My current demo rib is a Parker 750 Baltic with Mercury Diesel 4.2 (320HP) there is nothing wrong with diesel ribs. I keep the rib at Southampton Dry Stack. . the guys there are great and provide an excellent service

here is a video clip taken last Saturday in the Solent. She may be sold soon but first come first served

I know but like I said I believe she will be sold after my demo on Saturday but not for 11. for 10/11K you can forget about diesel power and anything else for serious ribbing. You will have to increase your budget.

TwinsAs Poly said twins is not the sensible option. 2 x70HP would give you power something like 100HP would so you might as well put a 100 on it. The advantages are redundancy - i.e. if an engine fails you don't die. You aren't planning on doing that kind of adventure where if an engine fails you die. If an engine fails you either have a 6HP spare to deploy or you chuck out the anchor and hope some nice passing boat gives you a tow.

DryStack
Yes you are planning to be able to go out in any weather etc etc etc. Trust me when its blowing 90MPH in the Solent and you are dry stacked there you will regret not having it on a trailer and being able to tow it to Norfolk where its blowing a gentle 25MPH ;-)

I think Poly commented on another thread recently that he kept his boat 2 hours from home for a year or two. It wasn't dry stack but that concept - he turned up and put it in the water. No towing... Perfect. Until he needed to repair things. He'd turn up on Saturday expecting a 5 minute job to discover the fitting he brought was wrong size, spend 3 hours bodging a solution to loose best part of a day on the water and not get the fix actually done. Added to that if his mate called him up and said dya fancy a quick spin on your boat this afternoon - weather looks perfect he couldn't just dunk it locally coz it wasn't local.

DryRun runs a dry stack and trust me if I lived near a DryStack it may well be the option I'd choose. But you don't live near one and the thing that you see as a negative (distance to sea) is for your wish of making passages and photos a god send because it gives you lots of choices.

Look up this Saturday coming's weather --> you would presumably not head W/NW ish from your home town that day. What if thats where your stack was (there probably isn't one) - the other options all look OK.

My final reason for not thinking stack is right for you is you said your into photos. Photos mean scenery and wild life. You'll find that better away from Solent IMHO and the Solent is the hotbed of stacks...

The "ideal rib" with the "ideal engines" would cost around £150K....so lets get real.
Your £10k will get you the boat you're looking for. 100hp will do fine on the back of a 6mtr boat...... probably top around 40mph and cruise 25-30mph without any bother. My 6.5mtr does 43mph (4 up) with 130hp. tows two skiers and has covered the best part of 1000 mls coastal and offshore this year. HOWEVER....Fuel bills, two years dry stack, servicing ???
My fuel bill for this year will be over £1000. I trailer and keep at home but I'm guessing dry-stack will be £1000+ per year. I do my own servicing/maintenance and that will have cost me best part of £1000 this year. It's been a bad year! (includes trailer maintenance).
Generalisations always invite controversy and varying opinions but if you give a couple of examples of what you're considering buying, chances are someone here will have something the same or very similar and give you the benefit of their experiences.
Welcome aboard.

Thanks for your input which was very helpful and your welcome.
I was looking at this type of RIB for my first purchase.

A bit like the diesel situation most people who opt for twins do so for very specific advantages. Essentially because the consequences of failure are worse for them than normal, or they are trying to get more power than is otherwise possible. Neither of those applies to you. I'm sure there will be people who start with one engine then add a partner as an upgrade simply to get more power but I have never heard of anyone buying a boat with that plan in mind.

Transoms have lengths, and the length, is different in the centre from the sides. They are also rated for weight and power. Most people would want separate fuel and electrics for each engine, and you need another set of controls (which depending on the first set might mean replacing them both). I don't think it's a newbie's upgrade path! Just buy the right boat the first time!

If this 6.4 had more stuff on it with a 175-200 motor it would be a 20k boat easy, but if the layout suits you won't buy a better hull at this age IMO. The engine is certainly under powered for what the hull can handle but that is why it is this cheap. Addition of an A frame would man it up nicely, maybe a bigger engine in a couple of years too. I would think it will cruise in the mid 20s though and maybe Max out circa 32 knots or so. It is almost a crime to have that good a RIB fitted out like that.Ribcraft - 6.4 RIBs and Inflatable Boats for sale in Edinburgh, Scotland | Boats and Outboards

Post up some links to what has caught your eye and how many will be with you, type of weather you expect to go out in etc

I have already posted a few links (repeated below) and I expect only one or two people with me. Weather wise, I would expect to go out in fine weather and anything up to say... force 5 until I had gained a lot more experience with planning trips, meteorology and navigation.

My current demo rib is a Parker 750 Baltic with Mercury Diesel 4.2 (320HP) there is nothing wrong with diesel ribs. I keep the rib at Southampton Dry Stack. . the guys there are great and provide an excellent service

here is a video clip taken last Saturday in the Solent. She may be sold soon but first come first served